Savant Capital Management and The Monitor Group say combining forces gives them a more holistic level of expertise and a retirement route for their advisors – more importantly, they aren’t giving up equity to aggregators....
Expecting more cumbersome regulations and greater scrutiny of the industry, the head of a small Florida broker/dealer left its affiliation with a community bank in favor of starting an independent hybrid RIA – and took half his staff with him....
The number of breakaway brokers joining TD Ameritrade in its fiscal second quarter continued at the double-digit pace set in 2011, the company said today. ...
A startup wants to unite the universe of disconnected RIAs into a national recognized brand of networked firms, with standards, marketing muscle and economies of scale. ...
Last year global asset manager Affiliated Managers Group Inc. launched a new subsidiary with the aim of acquiring equity in boutique investment management firms. ...
Financial advisors and RIAs may have more handholding to do with clients. The glum outlook for American retirement appeared little improved with the release this week of two separate reports that showed continued worker skepticism about their prospects....
I'm leaving you. I'm leaving you for someone else. It's over. It's been great, really. You've given me so much space, so much freedom. Most people don't...
As independent broker/dealers continue to consolidate and the search for profitability accelerates, some firms may be considering dropping their clearing relationship and taking it in-house. Building scale comes first. Could your firm be next?...
In a year that saw roller-coaster market moves, the nation's top custodians seemed to do all right in their efforts to lure new assets and advisors to...
Raymond James Financial said it is moving its registered investment advisor unit out of Raymond James Financial Services, its IBD division, and setting it up as a separate division with its own president. ...
Don’t write off merger and acquisition activity for the registered investment advisor market in 2012 yet. Sure, market volatility and foggy economic prospects dampened dealmaking last year, according to Schwab Advisor Services. ...
More work, same pay has been the story for branch office managers over the past decade. It took a tragedy among his ranks to help one Wells Fargo manager find personal value in an increasingly difficult job....
The world of the brokerage office managers and their equivalent peers in the bank-based investment offices are similar in most respects but one: Happiness....
It’s no secret that many branch managers feel their firms now view them more as “costly overhead” rather than as talented coaches and leaders who can greatly benefit their firms’ bottom lines. ...
Add one more winner to last week’s blockbuster LPL-Fortigent deal: the rapidly growing business of providing outsourcing services to wealth managers....
A legacy branch manager with Wells Fargo Advisors on the East Coast—let’s call him Joe—says he hasn’t had a raise in his base salary in more than a decade, despite the fact that revenues at his branch have increased tenfold, and he is now doing “about seven times the amount that I did back then.” ...
I am very fortunate as a financial advisor to have an amazing group of clients I work with each day. I consider it an honor to have been given this responsibility by the households I am responsible for; helping people invest for the future is my life’s work and the relationships I have now with clients mean a lot to me both professionally and personally. But it was not always thus....
Joseph L., a 60-year-old veteran rep in New York says, for years, he had planned to retire at 63, soon after his youngest child finished college. Alas, the market pummel took a beating beginning in 2007 and his 401(k) plan took one along with it. Joseph has awakened to the fact that he could still be working at the ripe age 70...
What a heck of a summer. In August, Mr. Market behaved like a schizophrenic. Such volatile conditions, no doubt, cool clients’ ardor for risk. For most, the challenge of merely keeping their clients calm takes precedence over seeking greener pastures at other firms. ...
Advisors need to get in front of the volatility. Develop a recovery strategy for clients, contact them proactively, press them for new prospects, and expand your own social activities for prospecting possibilities. ...
Las Vegas—“How do advisors find the time to do all that your research is telling them to do? There seems to be a lot required to meet the expectations of today’s affluent investor,” asked an advisor during the Q&A following my presentation. “Your research can be quite intimidating.”...
We’ve all heard about how social media is gaining momentum with advisors. But Registered Rep.’s latest research shows the tools may be beginning to lose their luster in terms of winning business....
The branch office manager used to be the highly revered elder statesmen of the industry. No more. Many advisors say the position is increasingly part of a corporate bureaucracy with a mandate to push the agenda of the firm over the interests of the clients....
We've all seen the studies – one seems to land on my desk once or twice a week. “Americans are living longer.” “Fewer have defined benefit pensions.” “The value of Social Security is shrinking.” “Boomers don't have enough money to retire comfortably.” “A retirement crisis is looming.” ...
May 10, 2012 5:00 PM, By Stephen Boswell and Kevin Nichols
Welcome to the world of the elite. There’s a small cadre of elite new advisors, 2.4% to be exact, who are doing the right activities, the right way and seeing phenomenal results. ...
There’s always a bit of anxiety in the air when financial advisors study for the rigorous Certified Financial Planner exam, but the version of the test that’s coming next week may be accompanied by more than the usual share of worrying....
A majority of advisors are marketing themselves as financial “planners,” even though they really don’t provide comprehensive planning services, according to a recent Cerulli Associates report. By adopting the nomenclature, they are hoping they can stay competitive amid the growing trend towards more holistic, one-stop-shops of financial services. ...
Raymond James recently launched a two-year, mentor-type training program for new advisors, and it hopes the program will be more conducive to attracting and retaining women, although the program is not solely targeting women. Raymond James’ entire advisor force is about 17 percent women, but the inaugural class of the Advisor Mastery Program is already 34 percent female....
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has decided that applicants for the coveted CFP mark must take a controversial 45-hour “capstone” course, starting next year, before being allowed to sit for the certification exam. Now there are signs that applicants for the designation are starting to crowd into the program in order to be grandfathered out of taking the course.
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is coming to a cable TV channel, magazine, and website near you. The board last month launched the first wave in a four-year marketing campaign to promote the CFP brand to the public, at a cost of nearly $40 million...
Of all the categories of conduct that will land a certified financial planner before the CFP Board of Standards’ Disciplinary and Ethics Commission, bankruptcy currently ranks number one. And the number of bankrupt CFPs who come before the commission is increasing. ...
Dec 1, 2010 12:00 PM, By David A. Geracioti Editor-In-Chief
Our Broker Report Card Survey has turned 20 years old with the publication of the report online (RegisteredRep.com) on Dec. 1. Twenty years is a long...
A sluggish economy dampens prices; why should professional examinations be an exception? The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards recently lopped $100 off the $595 price of its notoriously rigorous certification exam for applicants who were planning to take the test for a second time (or more)....
The SEC finally issued loose social media guidelines for investment advisers Wednesday. The regulator has long been criticized for its failure to create any kind of regulatory framework for firms and advisers who want to participate on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, as many of them feel they need to establish a presence there. ...
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